bitmap@ucbtopaz.CC.Berkeley.ARPA (12/09/83)
Sorry to put this in the net, but my letter bounced.
...answers to pop test.
1. Samarkand was, I think, the capital of Timur (Tamerlane)
2. ???? all right, who was he?
3. Mexico City? One of the Anasazi (Zuni?) villages?
These are off the top of my head.
I'm not convinced that people are just more ignorant of Asian
(excepting Middle Eastern) history or geography. How good is your
'Western' history?
1. When was Rome founded?
2. Who won the Hundred Years War? (when was it?)
3. (seasonal) Where was the kingdom of 'Good King Wenceslas'?
More contemporary:
1. Name at least one 'state' (province?) of Mexico.
2. What is Queen Elizabeth II's last name (i.e., the
ruling 'house') and from what was it changed? (and why?)
3. When did George Washington take his first oath of office
as president?
..................................................................
It seems to me that there is a sort-of 'polite awe' towards the
'ancient Oriental culture', an attitute possibly founded in
ignorance and a feeling of mysticism. So far as I've been able to
determine, Egyptian/Middle Eastern cultures predated (by far)
Chinese cultures (dynasties?). Confucious (sp?) started his
religion/philosophy long after Abraham, or even King David.
Alexander the Great conquered the area containing Samarkand (did it
exist then?) about 1+1/2 thousand years before Tamerlane. The
bronze age seems to have started in China much later than in the
West, as did the iron age. The Chinese system of writing was
very unwieldy up until (?) 1900 AD. The Sumerians (Middle East) had
gotten the required number of symbols for writing down to a few tens
by (?) 2000 BC.
Not to say that northern Europe had a lot of 'culture' back then,
either, but it appears that the Middle East had China/far East beat
by a mile.
As a guess, I'd say that people are much more ignorant of the Indian
(i.e., relating to India) culture than the Chinese.
Know anything about the Moguls?
Bill, UCB
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